HoganWillig Blog

If you are like many individuals who are in the process of selling their home in the summer months, you may be wondering how to get the best value for your home. By following these five areas of improvement, which may cost as little as a few hundred dollars, you could be getting a higher return on your investment once your property is on the market.

Governor Cuomo’s 2016-17 Budget has passed, as well as the enactment of several pieces of legislation to implement the budget’s fiscal plan, resulting in the STAR exemption program undergoing some significant changes.

A peculiar situation arose a few weeks ago which greatly jeopardized one of our closings. I won’t tell you whether we represented the Seller or the Purchaser; from the point of view of this entry it doesn’t matter. Firstly, I would say there are two types of Sellers, those that take very good care of the property and maintain everything in great condition until they finally move out. The second type cut back on the landscaping and repairs, and do the minimal clean up needed when they move out. Most Sellers fall in the middle of these two extremes.

Your home is probably your most valuable material asset, and you have undoubtedly put a lot of your time, money and care into it. Unfortunately, any combination of setbacks, from illness to job loss, can leave you suddenly unable to keep up with your mortgage payments and facing the possibility of foreclosure.

At HoganWillig, we work hard to help our clients keep their homes in the face of a foreclosure. However, there are times when it does not make financial sense to continue sinking money into an “underwater” home.

From a legal standpoint, when equipment, decorations, or appliances become affixed or fastened to the real estate, it becomes a fixture and is supposed to be transferred as part of the sale, unless there is an agreement providing otherwise. What are some of the factors determining whether something is a fixture?

In the exhaustive division of assets that occurs in most divorces, the issue of the family home inevitably comes up. What should be done with it? Who should keep it? Can that individual afford to keep it? Answers to these questions and more should be considered before making any decisions.